It is indeed the July 4th weekend. While idiots riot in the streets and say that the United States should be abolished, rarely do any of these mind numb brats have any idea how good they have it, or why they got it. Nor do they understand how close they are to losing it.
Let’s take a break from the weapons/self defense series, and give this date the respect it so much deserves.
Like most things in History, the fourth of July isn't exactly as you think. Let's look:
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain's rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4.
A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
It is indeed the July 4th weekend. While idiots riot in the streets and say that the United States should be abolished, rarely do any of these mind numb brats have any idea how good they have it, or why they got it. Nor do they understand how close they are to losing it.
Let’s take a break from the weapons/self defense series, and give this date the respect it so much deserves.
Like most things in History, the fourth of July isn't exactly as you think. Let's look:
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain's rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4.
A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
So, "Independence Day" was the day we officially told the Brit's to "take a hike, this is our Country now" and it was quite amazing. Britain was one of the 3 major powers of the day (Spain, France, and England) and here was this rag tag group of "states" telling the king to hit the road. Is that what the Declaration was for? To alert King George that “from now on, we’re independent of you?” Surely the king knew all about the colonies wanting to create their own nation, as he'd been engaged in battles with them since April of the year before.
No, the Declaration was not meant for King George; the British monarch had already gotten that message. In October 1775, he told Parliament that the rebellion "is manifestly carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire." Nor was the Declaration primarily intended to rally the American colonists to the cause of independence-they had already instructed their delegates to vote for separation. ( and had probably fired shots themselves)
Why then did the colonies even draft it then? If King George knew, and was already embroiled in the "American Revolution" what was the purpose of the Declaration of Independence? Was it just to get it "official?" No, it was to get itself help. Our forefathers were brave, they were wise beyond their time, but they weren’t stupid. They knew we needed help ousting George.
Until then, the American nation had proven stunningly incapable of fending for itself, like a rebellious adolescent who takes leave of his family without a penny to his name. It had no navy, little in the way of artillery, and a ragtag army and militia bereft of even the most basic ingredient of modern warfare: gunpowder. Soon after the Battle of Bunker Hill, Benjamin Franklin noted that "the Army had not five rounds of powder a man. The world wondered why we so seldom fired a cannon; we could not afford it." America needed allies, and it needed them soon.
But, no one was going to come to the aid of some pugnacious renegades involved in a civil war with its home land. Tommy Jefferson understood that. To enlist allies, America had to demonstrate that it was an independent nation fighting against a common British enemy. Jefferson's letter, clearly stating that "these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be Free and Independent States", was an engraved invitation to France and Spain, asking them to help us in this fight.
Now why would anyone even come to the aid of this fledgling country trying to break free from British rule? Because France and Spain had long been spoiling for a rematch with Great Britain, and Jefferson knew it. During the Seven Years' War against Britain, which ended in 1763, France lost Canada and its central political position in Europe, and Spain gave up both Florida and its dominance over the Gulf of Mexico. They were mighty sore of all of that and American independence was a means of weakening British domination in Europe and overseas. With the right urging, they'd come to the defense of the Colonies.
Both countries had already secretly provided arms and clothing to the rebellious American colonies. Even before Lexington and Concord, government-backed merchants from both nations traded European blankets, gunpowder and muskets for American tobacco, whale oil and cod. But blankets and muskets alone would never be enough against the British onslaught; in order to survive, America needed the full military might of France and Spain at its side.
And they did. Within a year, France signed treaties with the fledgling American nation that automatically put them at war with Britain. A year after that, Spain joined France in the fight, though it never formally allied with the United States. Together they turned a regional conflict into a world war that bled off British forces to America. Spain eventually wrested Florida from Britain and French troops fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Americans at Yorktown, effectively ending the conflict.
Don’t get me wrong folks. The Declaration of Independence was without a doubt God inspired. It did several things at the same time. 1) it rallied the Americans to get behind our fight against Britain with all their might. 2) It spelled out that our rights come from our CREATOR, not some Government flunky or so-called King. 3) it was radically different than virtually any before it, demanding that the PEOPLE have the right to disband any Government that's not doing right, 4) it gave to the world, probably the most powerful statement ever penned: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
But it also brought in the goods, supplies, armament, and even manpower of Britain's rival enemies, and without it, I don't for a minute think we'd have pulled it off. However, no matter the help we got, what "won" our Independence was the iron will, the tenacity, the cunning, and the determination of the "American" people attempting to be free.
Be Proud of that. Happy 4th of July folks.